The Fifth World
by WhiteRosesforme
Summary: Something goes horribly wrong, and the Cullens are forced to move to remote jungles of Papua New Guinea. Hidden in the corners of the dark jungle, something more terrifying and more monstrous than the undead lurks...
1. Chapter 1

Well, I guess this is the beginning of a new story… I have several chapters written down, and I expect they'll all be about this length, so an update every week or so seems reasonable to me… I am very excited about this plot. I did a lot of research for it, and I was shocked to see that the facts ended up fitting my planned storyline exactly. Well, enjoy and **review!**

**Chapter One - New Beginnings.**

You could say that the day started out like any other. It was overcast, and Alice had predicted a bit of light rain for late in the afternoon. Learning started bright and early for the Cullen household. Jasper and Emmett and been studying arterial blockage with Carlisle since 3 A.M and Rosalie, Alice and Esmé had since concerned themselves with the finer intricacies of cooking. (Apparently the girls were being forced to recreate an ethnic dish in Foods 101 later that day, and wanted to get a head start. Alice had predicted an assignment of Mexican tamales.) Which is why, when Bella woke up at 6:30 in the morning, instead of Edward's luxurious smile, she found herself face-to-face with a platter of steaming hot chicken and jalapeño tamales. Alice was holding the platter and looking very smug indeed.

"Alice, why-" croaked Bella, but she was quickly cut off by musical voice of someone who had long since forgotten the ill effects of cheeriness upon awakening humans.

"Bella, I know it's early in the morning, but…will you _please_ try them? Rosalie, Esmé and I were working on them all night! We just need to know what they taste like. That's all." Her voice was cajoling, and dripped with sweet sincerity.

" PLEASE Bella? Esmé will make you her blueberry pancakes if you just try one, insy, weensy little bite. You remember her pancakes, don't you? The explosion of hot blueberry mess, topped with our homegrown fresh strawberries, succulent raspberries, and the smallest drizzle of-"

"Okay! Stop! I will _try _your god-awful tamales! Just give me a moment, okay? Mexican is not usually my style in the wee hours of the morning. " Alice nodded and bounded down the stairs, plate in hand.

" Wait Alice, where is Edward?"

Alice's melodic voice drifted up from the stairway from the kitchen.

"He had a surprise for you, you know, for your first day at a new school. He went to go work on it."

"Oh," said Bella. " How long will he be gone for?"

" He'll be back by eight," said Alice from the kitchen.

"Alright then. I'll be down soon."

Bella threw herself off of Edward's enormous bed. She had to take a running start, in fact, because in promising Bella he would get the biggest, tallest, most comfortable bed in the whole world, he'd actually done it. Edward had gone all out and bought the tallest bed Prada Home Décor had in stock. It was an exquisite bed, hand carved out of ebony wood, but getting in and out of it was a trial. She jumped, and as usual, her feet missed the entire point in landing, and she found herself reacquainted with the plush carpet once again. She sighed and picked herself up. Bypassing the enormous walk in closet, Bella opened a door on her left and entered into an extravagant bathroom. The family had decided to renovate an old guest bedroom for her use (she had protested, but the Cullen family had finished the project before she'd even had time to draw breath to object.) They had installed a beautiful picture window that stretched across the upper part of the eastern wall, and allowed the golden morning sunlight to stream in and flood the sparkling white bathroom in glorious light. The sun was just rising as Bella slipped in to the shower, tinting her skin a dusty rose color.

The warm water revived her, and to her surprise she found herself enjoying the anticipation of the spicy Mexican food. Maybe it was the surprise that Edward had planned for her first day at a new school that was fueling this odd anticipation. She could hope that he hadn't spent any money on her, but she knew that the argument was fruitless and annoyingly repetitive. Edward loved to spoil her, no matter the cost, and while she hated the money being wasted, she loved to see the child-like adoration and eagerness in his eyes. So Bella had grown to accept the gifts, not for what they were, but for Edward because of what they meant to him. Gifts like this luxuriant bathroom had been made through hard labor, and she admitted grudgingly, she _did_ like waking up to the sunlight streaming through the windows… But her favorite gift hadn't really cost Edward any money, not really, but it had been the best and most sincere gift he ever could have possibly thought of. It had been the night of graduation and she had slipped into her truck cab with Charlie, Renee and Phil (come up from Florida for the graduation ceremony), and attached to her key chain, dangling in the ignition, he'd left her a key and a short note in his elegant script.

_Thank you for making my life worth living. Nothing would please me more than to see your sweet face when I wake each morn. Will you come live with me?_

_-Edward_

Bella had started to cry tears of joy, and her parent (whom she'd been driving to dinner) had exchanged worried glances. She'd quickly explained to them what the gist of the note was.

Reactions had been mixed. Phil had nodded uncertainly, Renee had commenced a babble that truthfully wasn't very coherent and wouldn't be for the following hours, and Charlie had narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together with a grim determination. They'd driven to the restaurant where Edward and his family were waiting to celebrate Edward, Alice, and Bella's graduation with Bella's family. She'd driven at 50 mph the whole time, pressing the rickety truck into full speed mode, eager to arrive. She'd swung left into the parking lot, screeched to a halt and thrown herself out of the cab of the truck into Edward's waiting arms.

" _Yes, yes, I'll move in with you!"_

Edward had grinned, a light in his topaz eyes that made him look angelic even in the glow of night. Renee finally managed to communicate a fragment of her jumbled thoughts.

" _How can- Bella, you're only- He's not…You're 18!'_

Edward had tensed, and the whole situation was about to go downhill, when Alice had spoken up.

"_Charlie,"_ she said softly. _"Charlie, you know Bella, and you know that she loves him."_

Alice was smart. She had ignored Renee entirely, realizing that Charlie was the key to success in this entire operation. He was the father after all, and had the most sway out of all the adults on Bella's future, as he knew her best.

"_Charlie, have you ever seen her as happy as she is with him?"_

Charlie had clenched his hands, leaning against the cab of the truck_. " No, Alice, I haven't, but I've also never seen her-or anyone else for that matter- so broken."_ Bella had winced, and Edward had clutched her tighter. He had opened his mouth to say something, but Alice had shot him a look. He went quiet and hugged Bella tighter.

" _But are you willing to let her make that decsion? Edward will be good to her, and he loves her very much. He left her because he thought he wasn't good enough for her."_

Bella had started to protest this, but again Alice had shot her a look. _" Quiet Bella. This may be awkward, me telling your parents things, but they have to understand."_ She turned back to the shocked adults, and said, _" Edward… ceased to exist after he broke up with Bella. He thought…that she was going to end up hurt around him, and so he left for her sake. He loves her so much that he was willing to make himself miserable so that she could move on and live a life without hurt."_

Charlie was still livid. _" Alice, I saw her. She didn't speak- she didn't live for four months! How on earth was that helpful! And what do you mean 'get hurt?' What could a seventeen year old boy possibly have done besides make Bella trust him, and then rip it all away?!"_

Bella had sucked in a breath, but the rest of the Cullens had remained calm. Alice didn't miss a beat.

"_Charlie, Edward __has __Polymorphous Light Eruption. He can't go into the direct sunlight without breaking out into lesions and it limits him and our family in many ways. He wanted Bella to live a normal life without always having to worry about him."_

"_Oh."_ Charlie's face relaxed, perhaps with shame, and the tension had simply melted. _" I'm truly sorry about that, son."_

" _That's alright sir. You had no way of knowing, and I will never forgive myself for harming Bella. I hope you know that I really only meant well."_

"_Yes, I guess I see that now. Would you and Bella be living with your family?"_

" _Oh yes. Alice has already set up Bella's bed in her room, and she's really quite excited."_

Charlie and Renee's faces had brightened considerably at learning that Bella would not be rooming in Edward's room, and with that order of business finished, they had all entered the restaurant, where the Cullen's had sweetly choked down Fork's finest Italian cuisine for Bella's sake. As usual, the family had been charming, and by the end of the dinner, Edward, Charlie, and Phil had been trading baseball facts, testing each other's knowledge. Bella suspected that Edward was letting the men win, seeing as he was the only one who had been alive at the time of the ball game currently in question. Carlisle was wooing Renee with great success, and by the time Bella's parents had walked out of the restaurant, Bella was quite sure they would have picked up cannibalism as a hobby if suggested to do so by Carlisle. She had quietly teased Edward that night. _" How are those lesions doing Edward? Not too painful, I hope?" _

So here she was, on a "gap year" with the Cullens, having moved to Westmont in Northern Canada. Charlie and Renee thought she was on an extended camping trip with the family, but she was actually attending Westmont High School as a junior. Edward hadn't changed her yet, but had finally yielded, saying that they were going to go back one last time to Forks to visit her parents before he changed her, and was never allowed to see them again. Bella had quietly agreed to this proposition, and so here she was in Westmont. The Cullens had bought another beautiful stately home, left out in the wilderness, and had fixed it up in less than 4 days. Carlisle was enjoying his work at the hospital, and had even been presented with new sorts of infections in the Canadian wilderness that had him raving about "improvements in the medical community." Bella and Edward were going back to high school. Bella wasn't technically certain how this was going to work with the administration, seeing as Bella Swan wasn't dead (yet, she had to remind herself,). She suspected there had been a name change involved somewhere in this process. Although the other kids had been in school for a week already, Bella and Edward (reluctant to leave the bliss of summer behind,) had waited until today to join the rest of the clan.

A loud bang in the kitchen interrupted her reverie, and she turned off the shower. Walking into the room, she could see that Alice had been and gone, as the outfit laid out on the bed suggested. Bella dried off and slipped the clothes on, noting their soft feel. The Cullens took such good care of her. They had bought her nice clothes for the climate change, made her favorite dishes, and generally pampered her in a way only seven intuitive super beings could. She exited the bathroom, and stumbled down the stairs. She made it to the kitchen without stubbing any toes, which was, quite frankly, a miracle. The Cullen women were arguing over a frying pan. Jasper and Emmett had busied themselves with cutting up strawberries, human speed. Carlisle was strangely enough in the kitchen as well. He usually didn't have Thursday morning shifts free, and it was a surprise to see him. Alice, without turning around, said " Bella, which would you prefer first, tamales or pancakes?" Bella chose the pancakes, jokingly saying she would like to enjoy her breakfast before being forced to upchuck it. Alice flicked some water at her, and Bella laughingly jumped back. She stumbled a little because her heel had gotten stuck behind her foot, but Emmett caught and righted her. " Thanks Emmett."

She sat down at the honey colored table, some wildflowers in a vase completing the homey look. A platter of artisan prepared and magazine perfect blueberry pancakes was set before her. They smelled absolutely divine. " Thank you Esmé!" She eagerly cut into them, and a look of contentment crossed her face. " These are…_amazing_." She opened her eyes to see the whole family staring at her with such care in their eyes, that it made her eyes tear a little, and she flushed a beet red. Nothing could make her happier in this moment. She was with family, and she was safe, and everything was perfect. Well, almost perfect.

"Alice, where did you say Edward was again?" she asked.

" I didn't say." Alice grinned wickedly. " Besides, you'll see him soon enough."

By this point, the pancakes had disappeared, and Alice danced over to the warming oven, withdrawing a fresh batch of tamales. The smell was delicious; but- She looked up at the clock. It read "7:42" in big, block letters, and Bella decided to take a chance, no matter how insane the idea of eating Mexican food at 7:42 was. Besides, the pancakes had been delicious, why not the tamales as well? She picked one up, and peeled off the cornhusk delicately. Everyone leaned a little closer as the tamale reach greater proximity… She took a deep breath, and bit. Flavor flooded every taste bud she had, and Bella knew that if taste buds could explode, it would be because of Alice's tamales. She was pretty sure her eyes crossed, because everything went a little blurry for a while.

" Alice, these are DIVINE! The flavor…the texture... it's almost like you managed to put the essence of Mexico in a corn husk and called it heaven!"

Everyone burst out laughing. Emmett dropped to the floor and did not regain control of his sense for a good while. Jasper and Alice leaned weakly on each other and giggled. Emmett finally reappeared from under the table, still giggling. He did a perfect imitation of Bella, _" put Mexico in a corn husk and called it heaven…" _and then had to collapse again. Jasper gasped out, " Bella, the look on your face!" Bella was getting redder and redder, but she snapped back with the first thing she could thing of, (it wasn't very well thought out. but times called for desperate measures….) " Well it really isn't my fault if Alice makes them so well! I couldn't help it!'

Everyone calmed down a bit, but Alice wrapped some of the tamales up for Bella's lunch and with a wink, slipped them into her backpack. Esmé took out the camera and snapped a few pictures to commemorate Bella's first time re-doing high school. She was sure she looked frustrated in all of them. Bella glanced back up at the clock again. Edward wasn't back yet, and it was 7:53. She sighed, and started to trudge dejectedly out the door, but Alice ran past her and grabbed her hand, rushing her to Rosalie's beautiful red convertible.

" Come on Bella! He's waiting for us at school, and you'll see him then. Come on, cheer up!"

Bella was unceremoniously shoved into the back seat in between Emmett and Alice. Rosalie revved the engine and reversed the car, using deft spins of the steering wheel to maneuver herself out of the garage. The car thundered down the extensive driveway of the new house, and within minutes they were on the highway, air rushing around the speeding car, to Westmont Community High School. Bella stared morosely out the window of Rosalie's convertible as fields and pastures became townhouses and white picket fences. Rosalie took a sharp right and screeched into a parking spot at Westmont High.

-

Edward's Volvo shone dully in the parking lot with the cloudy weather, but somehow he was more appealing. Bella hopped eagerly out of the convertible, and charged head first through the parking lot to meet him. What happened next was so instantaneous that no one could have predicted it, not even Alice.

Well, Well, WELL. Review! And all shall be revealed. Also, I am looking for a beta reader.


	2. Chapter 2

**Please check out my One-Shot, The Moth and the Flame. **

**RECAP:**

"_Edward's Volvo shone dully in the parking lot with the cloudy weather, but somehow he was more appealing. Bella hopped eagerly out of the convertible, and charged head first through the parking lot to meet him. What happened next was so instantaneous that no one could have predicted it, not even Alice."_

**Chapter Two – A Mass Exodus of Bloodsuckers**

The chain of events happened one after the other, a horrible series of domino-like events, each knocking the other over. Bella tripped, mid-charge, on thin air, and flew in the direction of a rather large and sharply angled SUV. Edward raced over the stop the collision, but was hit by a minivan that had just taken a sharp right around the bend. Alice was back at the convertible, helpless to aid Bella as she was mentally stuck in the soon-to-be future, and Emmett and Rosalie were racing over to stop the calamity. The minivan plowed into Edward, and rebounded backwards as he held his ground. Emmett, meanwhile, had been just in time to catch the unfortunate Bella. Rosalie was already straightening out the dents in the minivan with her bare hands, popping compressed sections of metal. The driver, a small time druggie who enjoyed heavy metal and zombie comics was gasping, his shock showing from behind the windscreen. His face was pale, and he didn't seem to be breathing. He was unharmed, but kept gaping at Edward, standing in front of his car, unharmed. The kid kept trying to reassure himself that he wasn't hallucinating and kept missing the door handle as if it would grant him stability.

" He knows," Edward whispered.

Bella, who had recovered from her shock, said," What do we do?"

" **We run.** _Go, Go, Go_!"

Edward grabbed her and motioned to Rosalie and Emmett. They raced off, Bella in tow. Jasper ran to Edward's Volvo and Alice hopped in the convertible, and both sped out of the parking lot. The late bell for first period rang in the distance, but none of the Cullens made a move to return. Their new life in Canada was over.

All it had taken was 14 and a half miniscule seconds for their world to come crashing down on them.

-

Bella stared morosely again out of the airplane window. Edward clasped his hand in hers, a small comfort. They were on a direct flight to Jakarta. After the fiasco in the parking lot, Carlisle and Esmé had been shocked to see their 5 children storm through the door at precisely 8:17 AM, and explain that they needed to relocate, and fast. Edward and Carlisle had disappeared into Carlisle's office to call Carlisle's contacts and search for a new job. Alice had thrown boxes at Bella and told her to go put the things she wouldn't need to take with them in storage. By 4 P.M, the house was empty and for sale. By 5 P.M. Bella told her parents she would be spending the year in Papua New Guinea. And by 7:48, the family had been on a plane headed for a new life.

Bella felt as if it was all her fault. If only she wasn't so clumsy, so inept at staying on her own two feet. The Cullens had just gotten settled and she was the reason, yet again, that they had to move. She sighed, and Edward clasped her hand to his chest.

" Bella, this isn't your fault."

"Yes, Edward it is! If I were able to walk 10 feet without tripping like normal humans, none of this would have happened."

" And then what Bella? That minivan was coming around the corner at over 45 miles per hour! If you hadn't tripped, you would have been right in its path, and I 'm not sure I would have been fast- …Never mind. Blame me! I was the one who stood in front of the van! If you need to, you can blame Alice. She had the vision too late."

Bella gasped, " I would never blame you or Alice!"

" So don't blame anyone then! The kid was just a fluke. He thought I was some kind of superhero. He was high when he hit us, and now that we've disappeared without any trace, he'll think it was a figment of his drug-addled mind.'

'You think so?"

"Yes, I do. And besides, Ms. I've-Never-Been- East-of –Albuquerque, you can see a bit of the world now, like you've always wanted.' He squeezed her hand tighter and looked her straight in the eyes, dazzling her a bit with the intensity of his stare. The gold color was bright, the color flooding every sensible part of her mind, and rendering her useless.

"Stop it! You know I can't think straight when you do that!"

" That, my dear-" he said wickedly,"-might be the point entirely." His lips curled into a half-smirk, and he leaned closer and closer for a kiss…

-

Arriving at the sunny airport of, all the Cullens magically disembarked in full winter regalia. Alice had managed to procure eight sun hats out of seemingly nowhere, and all of the Cullens were wearing jeans, sneakers and heavy woolen tops, with dark canvas gloves. Bella had never seen Edward wear any kind of hat except the occasional baseball cap, and the straw hat suited him well, harmonizing with the golden color of his eyes. Actually, most things looked good on him. The gloves looked a little odd, but the Cullens put their hands in their pockets and separated into groups of two, walking slightly apart as so not to look conspicuous. Edward and Bella walked in the middle of the group. They held hands the entire time in the airport, and even when Bella insisted on pulling her own suitcase from the luggage cart, Edward didn't release her hand.

Stepping outside in the hot Papua New Guinean sun, Carlisle hailed down two not entirely legal looking taxis. When it emerged that Rosalie and Alice's luggage would need a separate taxi, for the sheer amount of things they had brought, Edward, Bella, Jasper and Esmé agreed to go ahead in the first and second taxis with the luggage. The rest would wait for a taxi in the dark of the ARRIVALS awning. Driving through the sunny hustle and bustle of Jakarta. Bella remarked the difference between Arizona and Seattle with this. Jakarta seemed so much more alive, so much more humane. It was dirtier, sure, but was bursting with color. People were darting in between gaps in the traffic, and the air was thick with humidity. Racks of dead poultry hung in open-air stalls. Fruit vendors displayed fruit of imaginable color. Although most of the pedestrians wore Western-style clothing, Bella saw a couple of colorful indigenous costumes. She was shocked to see a woman that walked right past the taxi with circles branded into the bronzed flesh of her arms, proudly displayed. Edward leaned over and said, " In some of the local Indian culture, the markings are seen as an enhancement of beauty." Bella supposed she saw the principle behind the practice, and it _did_ look very nice, once the shock of seeing branded flesh had worn off. But she still shuddered to think of the pain that must have caused to have over 20 circles branded onto bare skin.

The heat circulated in the metal body of the cab, and Bella felt herself getting faint, her energy zapped by the stifling humidity. She leaned against Edward for support and felt the cold reassurance of his touch. Of course! She placed his hand on her forehead, and leaned back in relief. He laughed, and suddenly Esmé was sitting next to her. The combination of their icy touch sent revitalizing shocks of cold through her body. She laughed and leaned on Edward's shoulder, watching the busy streets whiz by. The taxi driver was a bit erratic, and he took his left turns on an axle.

So when they screeched to a halt in front of the main building of the hotel, Bella stumbled out gratefully. It was a beautiful hotel, the kind celebrities rent for a week's peace and calm away from the prying eyes of the public. They left the bellhops to struggle with unloading the many suitcases from the second taxi and walked into the reception hall of the hotel. Edward stayed with Bella in the gift shop while Esmé and Jasper went to sign in. There were several guidebooks on local culture and Bella picked up three of them, and headed for the cashier, her wallet in hand. Edward intercepted her, nimbly plucking the books out of her hand and hauling out his own wallet. Bella protested, but Edward gave her a pleading look and she reluctantly acquiesced. He handed her the books, and she poured over them in the lobby with him while waiting for Esmé and Jasper. They were just getting around to naming everything in the lobby in Melanesian Pidgin (the main language of Papua New Guinea) when the two returned. The Cullens had booked a private beach, with strict instructions not to be disturbed during their stay. A golf cart was awaiting, with all of the luggage somehow crammed into it. The bellhop sat impatiently at the wheel. Jasper and Esmé climbed in, but there was little room left in the already claustrophobic cart.

" That's okay, Bella and I will walk to the beach." He grabbed her hand, and they started down the path. Once they were out of sight, Edward leaned on the ground and motioned for Bella to hop on. She groaned, but reluctantly clamped her legs around his middle section.

" Just go easy on me," she pleaded weakly, " You know I don't do well with this kind of speed."

He chuckled. " Don't worry, I'll go slow."

She raised an eyebrow. " Slow?"

"Well-," he admitted sheepishly, "- slower. Now hang on."

With that, he leapt into a loping pace. Trees whizzed by as they left the main path for the tiny side road that led to their beach. Edward turned the corner not five seconds later, only to see the golf cart puttering along. He doubled back and paused for a moment, checking that it was out of sight, before heading off again. They whizzed onto the beach moment before the cart arrived and hid behind one of the huts. The golf cart stayed long enough to deposit their luggage, and puttered off again. Bella hopped off of Edward's back, and took in the majestic view. The hut they had just been behind was one of four, beautifully crafted huts. They stood on golden white sands, which led to the aquamarine ocean. The beach was surrounded by lush forest on all sides, and appeared completely uninhabited. Bella ran out into the middle of the beach, leaning down to run some of the hot sand through her hands. Some beach chairs and sun umbrellas were set up in the middle of the expansive beach, and Bella flopped herself down into one of them, fully intent on taking a nap. Edward crept up behind her, and fast as lighting, picked her up and ran headfirst into the crashing waves. Bella shrieked before she was plunged into the lukewarm waters. She emerged spluttering from the wave, soaked to the bone, smile bright and eyes sparkling.

" You aren't getting away with that one, Edward!" she warned. She charged straight at him and leapt onto his back, fully intending to bring him crashing into the surf. But he stayed upright, and she slid right off of his rigidly- aligned back into the waters. She took another charge at him, but tripped, fell, and cried out, seemingly in pain. Edward caught her desperately and shook her, trying to awaken her. " Bella? Are you all right? Wake up!" Bella opened her eyes, and in one swift movement, pushed him into the water, and sat on him.

"Ha!" she exclaimed, when he returned to the surface, spluttering. " I got you! You fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" She giggled and lightly splashed some water at him. He glared, but then the water splashed him in the face, forcing a laugh out of him. She ran inshore to greet the rest of the Cullen family who had now arrived. She then realized that all of the Cullens were still wearing their dark protective clothing, even Edward, although he was significantly wetter than the rest. Carlisle asked Edward to scan the area for human thought. Edward shut his eyes, and said slowly," There's no one for the next half mile. The foliage should cover the shine, and besides, Alice should be able to tell if anyone decides to interrupt us."

With a whoop, Emmett whooshed off all his clothes and presumably in the same movement put on the swim trunks he'd been carrying in his backpack, because Bella hadn't actually been able to see the actual change, but judging by the groans of the six vampires, they in fact had. " God Emmett, is that absolutely necessary?" Rosalie demanded.

Emmett picked her up in one swift movement, and ran into the water. The minute they hit the sunlight, Emmett's body burst into a glittery explosion. He threw both Rosalie and himself into the water, and the rest of the family followed. Even Carlisle, with an uncharacteristically young glint in his eyes, dragged Esmé down the beach. Bella watched in amazement as the six scintillating figures frolicked in the already glittering waters. It was like a scene from a fairytale; the shine that they gave off filled her with the same sense of incredulity. They were magnificent. Edward's cold hands wrapped around Bella's waist, and he nipped at her neck. She lolled back into his embrace, the heat rolling off her body and clashing with his icy skin. It was driving her crazy. She felt her heart start to jump and felt a little faint, so she turned and pushed him away slowly into the sun's path. He too, had already changed into his swimming trunks while she had been watching the others. She watched as his magnificent body suddenly caught the sunlight, one glorious inch at a time, and shone brightly. He reflected sunlight like the sea behind him, and she had to take a deep breath to try and control her erratic heartbeat. She rarely had the opportunity to see him like this, and treasured every second of it. The sunlight enhanced every line of hard, chiseled muscle, and offset his golden eyes, She followed the line of his line of his bicep to where is met his glorious strong shoulders. He grinned, flexing his shoulder blades and letting her watched, fascinated, as the muscled ripped down his strong back. She stopped breathing for a moment, and he chuckled. He could hear everything!

" Aren't you supposed to be able to stand still as stone?" she demanded teasingly, as soon as she had recovered.

"Yes-," he shot back, "-but I like seeing your eyes flash and your cheeks flush when you think I'm not looking."

Bella went red, and he laughed. Quicker than air, he dashed towards her and had her down at the water's edge before she knew what was happening. He whispered quietly in her ear, " Take a deep breath," and she sucked in as much air as her lungs could accommodate, and then they were underwater.

Edward held her hand, and towed her along. She opened her eyes and saw the coral bed-flashes of red and yellow in the aqua ocean. She beamed up at Edward, who was quietly hovering above her. He caught a beam of reflected sunlight, and glowed. He looked like an angel with his shining hair, something not of this world. Which he wasn't, she had to remind herself. And soon, neither would she be either.

A burning in her lungs distracted her thoughts, and motioned Edward that she was going up. His eyes gleamed in the crystal water, and she looked at him puzzled. He reached for her and pulled her closer into a searing kiss-all the while breathing sweet air into her parched airways. The adrenaline from relief and then lust knocked together, and swirled around in her mind, overwhelming her. His cold lips were a shock in the sun-warmed Pacific waters, and it all combined in a heady rush that left Bella breathless again. Edward grinned, and with a kick of his powerful legs, they were on the surface again. Bella could hardly look at Edward for the reflection of his glittering skin against the water, surrounding him in light. He clasped her to his chest and held her, treading water half a mile from shore. She lightly traced the plane of his chest, connecting water droplets on his pearly skin. An overwhelming sense of peace descended on the pair.

Nearby, Emmett was playing water cannons with Rosalie. She would stand on his shoulders while he was underwater, and he would shoot up and rocket her 70 feet in the air before she would drop down in a deeper pool. What was more astonishing was when Rosalie did the same to the brawny Emmett!

Alice suddenly popped out of the water, from seemingly nowhere, and grabbed Bella out of Edward's arms. She swam her to the beach and ran her on to one of the waiting beach chairs.

"Bella, you're going to get a sunburn if you stay out there much longer…"

Bella protested. " Well, how do you know? I'm not even a little bit pink! There's no way you could see…Oh. You had a vision, didn't you?"

Alice smirked." Yes, and be grateful I got you out when I did. Tomato red is **not **your color. You'll thank me tomorrow."

Edward approached them at this point, and shook his hair, flipping it the right to wring any excess water. It stuck there on his forehead, and Bella giggled. He looked like Jimmy Neutron.

" Thanks again Alice. We're going to go unpack."

Edward went and got their suitcase, and they walked towards the beautiful huts on the far corners of the beach. Edward amused her on the way there by balancing their suitcases, on top of the other, on his head.

"You are such a showoff!"

"You like it."

Arriving at the hut, Edward let the valises down carefully and reached for the handle.

It was gorgeous! The door unlocked into a hexagonal entrance hallway. The ceiling was like a large skylight, and white light beamed down on a hexagonal goldfish pool. Water lily blooms decorated the surface of the pond, and flashes of exotic fish appeared in between the green of the lily pads. Each one of the angles of the hallway led to a different room. Bella ran eagerly to a closed door and opened it to find a tiki-style kitchen, complete with a indoor barbeque, The living room was much the same, but one of the walls had been screened off and revealed a magnificent ocean view, The bathroom had a tub made of polished wood, and was at least 3 feet tall. A mirror wrapped around the walls, and a skylight provided a golden glow in the room. The closets were nothing short of spectacular, but the bedroom was the most magnificent of all. It was the biggest room in the hut, and as Bella opened the door, sunlight came streaming in from the open, but screened, windows. The light accidentally hit Edward's chest and he lit up the room.

" If you don't stop trying to attract sunlight, I'm going to go blind soon."

He chuckled, the warmth reaching his eyes, and sending electricity sparking down her spine. He picked her up and carried her over to the white bed, dropping her into its soft down. The light caught her hair, and she imagined that she saw a bit in Edward's eyes of what she had been feeling all day. He jumped on the bed with her and drew her into his arms. It was so easy to feel secure there, basking in the sunlight and knowing life was perfect and that there were no worries for either of them. Bella fatigued with the journey and swimming, snuggled closer and fell into a deep sleep.

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Hmm…not very pleased with this chapter… its got that filler chapter feel…the story will start picking up in chapter 4 I think. That's when everything kind of goes wrong, you know? I just want to make sure there is enough contrast established so that you guys can pick up on that. ANYWAYS PLEASE REVIEW! It helps the creative flow.lol.


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